New ‘Jack’ sculpture by Jim Love to be dedicated May 10 at Rice

MEDIA ADVISORY

David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

Jeff Falk
713-348-6775
jfalk@rice.edu

New ‘Jack’ sculpture by Jim Love to be dedicated May 10 at Rice

HOUSTON – (May 7, 2013) – Rice University will dedicate “Jack,” its new permanent installation from acclaimed American modernist sculptor Jim Love, at 1:30 p.m. May 10.

The red 5-by-5-foot steel sculpture is positioned on the lawn in front of the university’s Barbara and David Gibbs Recreation and Wellness Center, 6100 Main St.

JIM LOVE

“This playful and active sculpture is an iconic edition to our growing constellation of public art installations on the Rice campus,” said Rice University Art Director Molly Hubbard. “We are incredibly thankful to the Kenneth E. Bentsen family for their generosity in making this significant contribution to our collection.”

Love (1927–2005) was born in Amarillo, Texas. He graduated from Baylor University in 1952 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. After graduation, he moved to Houston. Love championed the practice of creating art out of the scrap metal he found in junkyards. The artist rose to prominence in 1961 when his groupings of found objects were included in the groundbreaking exhibition “The Art of Assemblage” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Love was the creator of highly visible public sculptures in Houston that include the “Call Ernie” airplane at the entrance to Hobby Airport; the “Portable Trojan Bear” in Hermann Park; and the welded screen “Area Code” in the lobby of the Alley Theatre.

“Jim Love was not only one of Houston’s most important artists and a catalyst for the Houston art scene, he was also a close friend,” the Bentsen family said. “His art, and in particular his ‘Jack,’ became part of our family and then our children’s families. After influencing four generations of Bentsens, we can think of no better home than Rice University, where it will bring the same awe and joy to more generations to come.”

For more information on public art at Rice, visit publicart.rice.edu.

Media interested in covering the May 10 dedication ceremony should RSVP to Jeff Falk, associate director of national media relations at Rice, at jfalk@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.

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Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,708 undergraduates and 2,374 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice has been ranked No. 1 for best quality of life multiple times by the Princeton Review and No. 2 for “best value” among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. To read “What they’re saying about Rice,” go to http://tinyurl.com/AboutRiceU.